Chair foot



June 5, 1934. v J E BALES 1,961,839

CHAIR FOOT Filed July 20, 1931 iigjuif/Z/ rik @777/60 515m Q 8 PatentedJune 5, 1934 NITE'D STATES PATENT "FFlCE CHAIR FOOT corporation ofIllinois Application July 20, 1931, Serial No. 551,831

8 Claims.

.This invention relates to a foot applied tothe legs-of chairs.

The primary'object of the invention is to providea new and improvedresilient foot for chairs,

which foot is provided with reinforcing means against which the metallicends of the chair legs engage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a chair foot which isprovided with a resilient w or rubber foot portion for engaging thefloor, which is provided with a metal .portion engaging the rubber footportion and upon which the metal ends ofthe chair legs rest, and whichis provided with an upstanding fin which engages a slot or opening inthe chair leg.

A further object is to provide an improved chair foot which has a metalleg supporting portion into which a flexible rubber fioor engagingportion is held, and which is provided with a longitudinal slot thereinthrough which an inturned leg of an upstanding fin is received, the

fin being adapted to extend upwardly along a face of the chair leg atthe lower end and having a hole provided therein into which the metal:of the chair leg is upset for'securely holding the footmember inposition on the end of a metal chair leg.

Astill further object is toprovide a novel metal chair foot which has aresilient floor engaging portion capable of being quickly andeconomically applied to the lower ends of the chair ends, and

which can be readily and economically manufactured.

Numerous other objects and advantages will be apparent throughout theprogress of the following specification.

The accompanying drawing illustrates a selected embodiment of theinvention and the views therein are as follows:

Fig. l is a *detail elevation of a chair leg and embodying theinvention.

Fig. 2 is adetail sectional view of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a'detail sectional View on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

parallel tubular reinforcing members 9 and 10 reinforcing material 23 isimbedded in the porand an intermediate inside connecting member 11 whichis spaced from the outside connecting member 12 to provide alongitudinal recess 13 which is preferably in the form of an elongatedrectangle.

The chair foot, which is designated generally by the numeral 14, isprovided with an inverse elongated metal tube-shaped member 15 which isadapted to be engaged by the underside .of the metal legs 6 as indicatedat. 16. The member 15 is in the shape of an-ovate oblong having parallelsides 1'? and rounded or circular ends 18. The member 15 in crosssection, has its free ends 19, Fig. 3, extending inwardly to receive theupper portion 20 of a resilient foot portion or block 21. This resilientfoot portion may be of any kind of soft yieldable material desired butin the present instance it has been found preferable to make it ofrubber. The upper portion 20 may be made of any kind of materialdesirable but it has been found preferable to make the portion 20 of thesame material as the portion 21. In orderto. prevent breakage betweenthe upper portion 20 and the lower portion 21 at the line 22,

tion 21 and extends up into the portion 20. This reinforcing'member maybe of any material desirablebut in actual practice it has been foundthat a fabric, such as canvas, sufficiently reinforces the rubber foot.

The member 15 is provided with a longitudinal slot 24 through which anupstanding fin 25 extends. The lower end of the fin is bent at rightangles, as indicated at 26, to provide an inwardly extending arm or leg2'7. The upper side of this arm or leg may engage the lower side of themember 15, as indicated at 28, while the lower side of the arm or legmay engage the top of the reinforcing member as designated at 29, Fig.3.

The fin 25 is adapted to extend up into the recess or opening 13 betweenthe sides 11 and 12. The fin 25 is provided with a hole or opening 30into which the metal of the inner side of the leg 11 is upset, asindicated at 31, for the purpose of locking the fin25 and consequentlythe entire foot in position to the leg of a chair. The opening 13diminishes in size as itextends upwardly until the sides 11 and 12contact, as indicated at 32, Fig. 3. If desirable, the fin 25 may beprovided with upstanding legs 33 and 34 which legs extend upwardly alongthe chair leg at a point beyond that indicated at 32 in Fig. 3 to giveextra bracing for the leg, and the intermediate notch 35 between thelegs may extend downwardly toward the perforation 30 to reduce thedistance over which the impressed portion 31 has to travel during theinsertion of the fin 25 into the leg 6.

While the invention has been designed primarily for use on chair legs itis, of course, derstoc-d that the present foot herein shown and claimedis applicable for other structures, such as tables and the like. Thepresent invention provides a soft resilient furniture foot particularlyfor use on metal chair legs to prevent marring of the floor upon whichthe chair rests. The metal member 15 provides a solid backing for thebottom of the metal chair and prevents the end of the chair from cuttinginto the flexible foot portion. The metal member 15 also provides novelmeans for holding the rubber foot in proper position as well as providina support for the upwardly extending fin. "he entire device may bereadily and economically manufactured and quickly applied in place. Theupsetting of the metal of the chair leg through the hole in the finlocks and maintains the foot in proper position at all times.

Changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of theparts without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificingany of its advantages, and the right is hereby reserved to make all suchchanges as fairly fall within the scope of the following claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. The combination with a furniture leg having an opening therein, ametal member engaging the bottom of said leg, said memb r having a slottherein, a fin extending through aid slot, a leg bent from said fin andengaging the underside of said member, fn having an opening providedtherein, an upset portion on the furniture leg extending into saidopening for locking the fin to the furniture leg, a block carried bysaid member, and reinforcement in said block and extending upwardly inthe block substantially to the leg on the chair.

2,-The combination of a metal chair leg having a narrow elongatedopening therein, a metal member engageable with the bottom of the chairleg and upon which the chair leg is supported, a resilient foot havingan upper and a lower portion, the upper portion of said foot beinggrippingly received by said metal member, strengthening means imbeddedin said upper and lower portions, said metal member having a slottherein, a fin passing through said slot and engaging the opening in thechair leg, said fin having a part arranged inside of the metal memberand engaging a part of the resilient m mber, said fin having a holetherein, a part or" the metal of the chair leg being upset and extendinginto the opening in the fin for locking the fin to the chair leg.

3. The combination of a metal chair leg having a narrow elongatedopening therein, a metal member engageable with the bottom of the chairleg and upon which the chair leg is supported, a resilient foot havingan upper and a lower portion, the upper portion of said foot beinggrippingly received by said metal member, strengthening means imbeddedin said upper and lower portions, said metal member having aslottherein, a fin passing through said slot and engaging the opening inthe chair leg, said fin having a part arranged inside of the metalmember and engaging a part of the resilient member, s id fin having ahole therein, a part of the metal of the chair leg being upset andextending into the opening in the fin for looking the fin to the chairleg, and arms on said fin engaging a side of the chair leg.

4. A rubber foot for chair legs and made in two portions, strengtheningmeans imbedded in each portion to reinforce the foot, a metal membergrippingly receiving one of said portions, a fin extending through saidmetal member, a leg bent from said fin and arranged inside of said metalmember, and means for fastening said fin to the leg of a chair.

5. A floor engaging foot for chairs comprising a hollow metal memberhaving an opening in its bottom, resilient means received in the openingand having a groove therein, the size of the openin being considerablysmaller than the normal size of the resilient means whereby said metalmember will extend into the groove and grippingly receive the resilientmeans, a fin passing through the metal member, a leg on the fin insideof the metal member and extending across the top of the resilient means,and means for fastening said fin to the leg of a chair, said means inl.

eluding a hole through the fin and an inwardly extending dent formed inthe leg.

6. A floor engaging foot for chairs comprising a hollow metal memberhaving an opening in its bottom, a resilient member re eived in theopening, the metal surrounding the opening extending inwardly apredetermined distance of the vertical planes defining the sides of theresilient member whereby the metal member grippingly receives a part ofthe resilient member, a reinforcing element in the resilient member andextending above and below the metal immediately surrounding the opening.

7. The combination with a furniture leg having a receiving opening inits bottom, a floor engaging 8. The combination'with a furniture leghaving a receiving opening therein, a fioor engaging foot for said legand comprising a hollow metal memher having an opening in its bottom, aresilient member received in the last named opening, the

metal surrounding the opening extending in- LJ fin to the furniture leg,said last named means i including a hole through the and an inwardlyextending dent formed on the furniture leg, and upwardly extending legsformed on said fin and extending into the receiving opening in thefurniture leg.

JAMES E. BALES.

